And emeralds come from Colombia, and rubies come from Burman, and sapphires come from Pakistan. Most metal, plastic and electronic things around us are made in horrible conditions. Don't use your iPhone to get all snitty about jewellery.

God Is My Co-Pirate:And emeralds come from Colombia, and rubies come from Burman, and sapphires come from Pakistan. Most metal, plastic and electronic things around us are made in horrible conditions. Don't use your iPhone to get all snitty about jewellery.

True, can't make most modern electronics without Tantalum, and you REALLY don't want to know the conditions its mined under. The average Tanatlum miner would probably cheerfully kill a family member just to swap places with a worker at FoxConn

Calmamity:Why someone would pay a bunch of money for a clear rock OR a bunch of smudgy yellow metal is absolutely beyond me.

Fortunately my wife feels the same. We used our money as a down payment on a house. That we live in.

CSB: My great grandparents did the same. But Grammy secretly squirreled away enough money to get Pappy a gold monogrammed ring. One day he lost it while working on a car in the back yard. It was lost for decades. He found it while gardening many a year later, and the monogram had been worn off. He put it back on and never took it off till the day he died.

Grandma gave it to me when I graduated high school and asked me if I wanted "H" (family name initial) or another monogram put back on to it. I told her no. I wanted to wear the ring I remember Pappy wearing.

I specifically DEMANDED blood diamonds for my wife's engagement ring. It came with a notarized certificate assuring me that three underprivileged children, a goat, and three puppies died to provide me with a diamond.

The diamonds in my wife's wedding ring are blood diamonds. The gold band were forged from goldmines in Burkina Faso worked by children. The ring was manufactured by underpaid Chinese workers in Shanghai. The ring was smuggled in to America by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The ring was delivered to me by a Russian Mobster pimp. And my wedding was in Vegas.

WhippingBoy:I specifically DEMANDED blood diamonds for my wife's engagement ring. It came with a notarized certificate assuring me that three underprivileged children, a goat, and three puppies died to provide me with a diamond.

Calmamity:Why someone would pay a bunch of money for a clear rock OR a bunch of smudgy yellow metal is absolutely beyond me.

Fortunately my wife feels the same. We used our money as a down payment on a house. That we live in.

My GF and I see eye to eye on almost everything. And she will nod her head in agreement when I tell her about how she has been manipulated to think that diamonds are valuable. And she will agree with me that most diamond store ads are demeaning to both men and women (a guy is a chump not worth marrying if he does not buy a gigantic diamond, and a women's self worth is tied to how big and flashy the diamond is). I think we are in agreement.

But then she sees sparkle in a Debeers ad on TV and reverts back to a "must have" mindset. It's very frustrating when staring down the barrel of engagement. I want to do it, but I don't want to buy the ring.

WhippingBoy:I specifically DEMANDED blood diamonds for my wife's engagement ring. It came with a notarized certificate assuring me that three underprivileged children, a goat, and three puppies died to provide me with a diamond.

if there were no cattle harmed then all you have is a shiny stone...have a herd of cattle slaughtered along with mining your ring then you have basically become the Green Lantern

skinink:The diamonds in my wife's wedding ring are blood diamonds. The gold band were forged from goldmines in Burkina Faso worked by children. The ring was manufactured by underpaid Chinese workers in Shanghai. The ring was smuggled in to America by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The ring was delivered to me by a Russian Mobster pimp. And my wedding was in Vegas.

You sir, are a got dang job creator, and deserve a significant tax break!

Calmamity:Why someone would pay a bunch of money for a clear rock OR a bunch of smudgy yellow metal is absolutely beyond me.

Fortunately my wife feels the same. We used our money as a down payment on a house. That we live in.

hell we had almost no extra money, and neither of us are big on wearing jewelry, so i bought my wife's engagement and wedding rings for a total of around $50 from avon...an antique-design silver with cubic zirconia. she has gotten a LOT of compliments from people unaware that they weren't "real". she loves her rings and that's all that matters.

the morning of our wedding day i went to walmart and bought myself a simple titanium band for about $45. i never wear it anymore because i seriously hate wearing jewelry, so i'm getting a tattoo in its place when i can afford something so non-essential.

I always thought it would be an interesting experiment to dress like a rich douchenozzle and pretend to go diamond shopping in Beverly Hills or the South Coast Plaza and demand that the rocks I purchase have at least one death associated with them. I'd pay 33% over sticker if it was a child.

I don't have any desire or urge to get married unless it makes sense legally (if we were gonna start looking to adopt a kid, for example) or financially.

But if we do, the SO damn well knows I want an affordable antique ring (definitely sans diamond) or heirloom if he wants to get me anything at all. My Dad was an only child so I presume whatever my grandma may have had is in his possession somewhere, but I know neither of them had diamond anything anyway.

Basically,

Diogenes:Calmamity: Why someone would pay a bunch of money for a clear rock OR a bunch of smudgy yellow metal is absolutely beyond me.

Fortunately my wife feels the same. We used our money as a down payment on a house. That we live in.

CSB: My great grandparents did the same. But Grammy secretly squirreled away enough money to get Pappy a gold monogrammed ring. One day he lost it while working on a car in the back yard. It was lost for decades. He found it while gardening many a year later, and the monogram had been worn off. He put it back on and never took it off till the day he died.

Grandma gave it to me when I graduated high school and asked me if I wanted "H" (family name initial) or another monogram put back on to it. I told her no. I wanted to wear the ring I remember Pappy wearing.

This and that.

/don't even have a HS or College ring, although my Mom was kind of pissed I was so adamant about her not buying me either//my HS letterman's jacket at least kept me warm, what would a ring bought from a catalog do?

Actually, I feel good myself because I'm not dumb enough to pay hard-earned money for silly-looking rocks that are only "valuable" because some people are dumb enough to pay hard-earned money for silly-looking rocks.

If I just wanted a geological mechanism for completely wasting my money I'd just dig a hole and bury it. At least then I'd get some exercise.

Diogenes:Grandma gave it to me when I graduated high school and asked me if I wanted "H" (family name initial) or another monogram put back on to it. I told her no. I wanted to wear the ring I remember Pappy wearing.

skinink:The diamonds in my wife's wedding ring are blood diamonds. The gold band were forged from goldmines in Burkina Faso worked by children. The ring was manufactured by underpaid Chinese workers in Shanghai. The ring was smuggled in to America by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The ring was delivered to me by a Russian Mobster pimp. And my wedding was in Vegas.

My friend's SO works for a county records office. He said, without hyperbole, that easily over half of the divorce papers he processed had marriage records from Clark County, NV. We're in Michigan.

/and the most popular locations for folks fleeing child support or alimony were Florida, Texas, and Mississippi//interesting trivia yet nothing terribly surprising about any of that

Skirl Hutsenreiter:Or you can buy antique jewelry secure in the knowledge that whoever was mutilated in its manufacture is long dead.

Also, unlike those places that advertise nonstop on the radio, you are actually getting something unique. But too many people think used jewelry is somehow tainted.

My friend bought a ring for his boyfriend before they got married in Canada. Found a admittedly really cool design of interlinking parts and had his friend's dad - a jeweler - make rings based off that design. And, IIRC, made out of inherited silver. Something entirely unique with a story and honest design and craftsmanship about it - that was really sweet. And the rings looked amazing.

WhippingBoy:I specifically DEMANDED blood diamonds for my wife's engagement ring. It came with a notarized certificate assuring me that three underprivileged children, a goat, and three puppies died to provide me with a diamond.

Did you specify that the gold had to come from Nazi era bars that where made from the dental gold of holocaust victims? And did they have a mass spectometer reading to show it had enough mercury tobe dental gold?

skozlaw:Actually, I feel good myself because I'm not dumb enough to pay hard-earned money for silly-looking rocks that are only "valuable" because some people are dumb enough to pay hard-earned money for silly-looking rocks.

If I just wanted a geological mechanism for completely wasting my money I'd just dig a hole and bury it. At least then I'd get some exercise.

Agnes Gonxha's Confidant:Diogenes:Grandma gave it to me when I graduated high school and asked me if I wanted "H" (family name initial) or another monogram put back on to it. I told her no. I wanted to wear the ring I remember Pappy wearing.